Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken
by Nemesis13
Summary: The world died, yet Haley Potter was once again the Girl-Who-Lived since her few remaining friends could not let her have her well deserved eternal rest. No, they used some insane Doctor Who science to send her back to the past while sacrificing their very existence in the process. The thing no one ever thought about was, how sane is a time traveler who literally lost everything?
1. Welcome

**This was originally 'Only the Guilty Feel Remorse, and I Feel None' and frankly, it was a broken story, so I'm republishing it and if it falters due to lack of followers, oh well.**

**That aside;**

**The fact of the matter is, this story was presented poorly which was my fault, and way too many people focused on the fact that Haley was "obsessing" over her murdered wife's ten year old form.**

**She IS NOT being creepy here people, just very overprotective.**

**I am incredibly annoyed I have to make that clarification.**

**Something that I don't think many grasped from the original publishing of this story: Haley is spiritually **_BROKEN_**. She saw her wife die, her daughters die, most of her friends die, and her**_ WORLD_** die. She is the only survivor from of a world of nine billion and was very likely the only one who didn't want to remain afterwords.**

**So Severus, Andromeda, Tonks, Sirius, they're all going to be doing their best to keep her...sane...ish but really the only thing that is keeping Haley going is knowing that Hermione is alive, and if that seems creepy, well, deal with it.**

**That aside, enjoy!**

* * *

Haley Potter had long ago come to the realization that she was in fact one of the few truly sane and rational people in the magical world, this coupled with her pragmatic outlook on problem solving had thus made her one of the most dangerous witches in modern history.

While this had not helped her much during her school years, primarily because of that senile old goat doing his best to groom her into a sacrificial weapon, as an adult it had done wonders for herself and her friends.

After the war she had taken her NEWTs at Hermione's insistence, she never could tell her bookworm no, then Haley became an auror mentoring under her sister in all but name Nymphadora 'Never Call Me Nymphadora' Tonks. Suffice it to say the young widow and her war hero protege made names for themselves quickly, and in a few short years Tonks had been appointed the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and Haley made her head auror.

Ironically this was not nepotism at work, the auror corps had simply been so utterly devastated by the war that there was literally no one else senior to them qualified to take the positions after their predecessors resigned.

While Haley had been off fighting crime her best friend Hermione Granger had finished her schooling, took up an intern position at the Ministry, and after about a week was snatched up by Minister Shacklebolt and appointed his undersecretary.

No one was surprised.

What followed was several years of prosperity, sprinkled with a handful of scandals here and there, primary amongst them the fact Haley and Hermione had been lovers since they were seventeen. Many people were scandalized, the women in question didn't care, and life moved on.

Of course, when Hermione finally became Minister for Magic things started going sideways, the old bloods as the former Pure Blood movement adherents were now referred to, did everything in their power to stop any motion she had put into play that did not line up with their ideals.

Which meant anything that would modernize magical Britain to equal standards of the rest of the world, of course.

Hermione tried to do things the legal way, and even tried some underhanded political tactics, but the old bloods that had survived the war and following prosecution were well entrenched, and soon began a campaign to discredit and dethrone the mudblood upstart.

Unfortunately for them, her fiance happened to be a very pragmatic witch who was already soaked in the blood of those that meant herself and her friends harm.

Old bloods started disappearing without a trace, they began panicking and demanded the government do something about it, which had Hermione slamming her head against her desk for obvious reasons. Not that it mattered, Haley's newly devised 'Catch and Release' program had been far too successful to give up on now.

It was a simple process honestly, Tonks, Haley, Daphne, and Neville had set up a secret tribunal, which all things considered _is not_ ok normally, but with the wonders of truth serum it was less of a figurative witch hunt, and more like cleaning house.

One of them would kidnap an old blood in the dead of night, tie them to a chair, dose them to the gills and question them, if they were just being obstructionist because they were senile old twats stuck in their way they were obliviated and dropped back off in their beds.

If they were trying to revive Riddle's old movement of Pure Blood Supremacy and supported such things as muggle born registration acts like Umbridge had going, muggle hunting, subjugating other magical races, and such other deplorable acts Haley did the pragmatic thing.

She killed them and burned the bodies.

It worked out very well, the fact that Stalin had given her the idea had bothered her a bit but she was sick to fucking death of war and wanted a peaceful progressive world for her daughters to grow up in.

Then of course Hermione found out what she had done, it had resulted in Haley sleeping on the couch for damn near six months, to this day she personally felt that it lasted that long because her methods had actually worked which annoyed her bookworm to no end.

Still, they had peace, the old bloods were defanged, and a new golden age had begun.

Then a death cult, using ritual magic that Haley had never even heard of set off the caldera super volcano under Yellowstone in North America. This set off a series of events that resulted in most of the Ring of Fire in the Pacific cooking off, the San Andreas fault line to finally snap, and for the most part killing off all life on the continent within weeks.

This of course set in a new ice age thanks to the massive ash cloud in the sky, and it didn't matter how much Haley tried to warn the surviving magical governments about what would soon follow they just wouldn't listen to her.

She understood how people thought, how normally rational people could do insane things when desperate, and how spiteful humans by their very nature could be. When the ashes blotting out the sun killed all of the worlds crops and food shortages became the norm, things in the muggle world would escalate.

It amazed her how almost everyone ignored what she saw as the obvious outcome of the world slowly starving to death, and she had cried rather then laugh when she was proven right.

The first nuclear exchange had been between Pakistan and India, no one knew who fired first and frankly no one cared in the end, the next was Israel and the rest of the Middle East, everything out that way was irradiated glass within a month. The death knell for the world was the exchange between China and Russia, with whatever was left of the yanks arsenal thrown about at what was seemingly random.

Sirius had commented on it being a defeatist mindset, the world was already burning so why not stoke the fire and go out in a blaze of glory. So huzzah, now not only was the world freezing to death in a blackened ash storm, it was now an _irradiated_ ash storm.

That's when Dennis Creevey, their resident technomage had shown off his latest insane invention, a device to send a single person's consciousness back into time.

Only trade off, it literally unraveled time, it would not take you to some alternate reality, or form a new divergence in the timeline, or any of that, it _literally_ destroyed the future from the moment you woke up in the past.

Haley had been against it on principle for once thinking with her emotions rather than her mind, the thought of her friends, wife, daughters, and all she cared about ceasing to exist terrified her beyond words.

Everyone else though thought it had merit and elected her to be the one to go back, effectively committing mass suicide in the process.

She had very much been against it at that point, but her friends unfortunately had finally taken a page out of her book of ruthless pragmatism, and sent their hero back to try and create a better future at their own expense.

She would do everything in her power to do so, but it didn't mean she had to be happy about it.

* * *

_**"FURyRAGeMALICeHATREdLOATHINgFURyRAGeMALICeHATREdLOATHINgFURyRAGeMALICeHATEdLOATHINg-"**_

Her eyes snapped open and all she saw was darkness.

Go figure. She died in darkness after all, as had Earth...as had...her better half...

_"You did what you could, it's their fault for not listening. Sirius did his best, so did Ginny, Luna and Neville but it wasn't enough. We tried, we failed, and don't you dare blame yourself for how things ended up. They betrayed everyone by not listening, not you, we fought, we struggled, we lost. At least we can die knowing that we actually tried."_

Quiet love...please...

Rubbing her face slowly Haley Potter sat up and assessed her surroundings, which, surprise surprise, were cloistered, dusty, and far too stuffy.

Considering the fact her room, if you could call it that, was a tiny cupboard underneath the stairs of a cookie cutter suburban home, it was more than one could hope for.

"Idiots," she muttered as she waved her hand at the door unlocking the outside deadbolt while pushing said door open.

Despite the years she had to process their actions the Dursleys still perplexed the reborn witch in ways that any rationally functional human being would quickly agree with.

They hated magic, thus they hated her. Which was fine and dandy all things considered since the feeling was _very_ much mutual.

Still, Petunia knew full well that at the age of seventeen Haley, the obviously magically inclined daughter of her witch sister would legally be allowed to use her powers without supervision.

Yet despite that fact, she encouraged her _fucking bastard rapist monster _of a husband to abuse her niece and encouraged her son to follow suite.

Seriously? Did she expect the daughter of Lily '**_FUCKING_**' Ivy Potter nee Evans to not seek recompense? Vengeance? **_Bloody RETRIBUTION__!?_**

Was she really that distant from her younger sister and her own mother that she didn't know _exactly_ what her niece Haley Potter would do to her and her entire family once she had gotten away from the fucking government breathing down her neck?

Knowing the shrew as she did, most likely, not that it even mattered.

A short time later a bottle of Vernon's best brandy was on the table before her along with a large snifter and a bottle of water.

Haley may be suicidaly morose at the moment but she knew the sacrifice her friends made to bring her back here would not be appreciated with a destroyed liver.

Well, Sirius might have approved but her Dogfather was hardly the epitome of rational thinking, though the simple thought of the bat shite insane animagus brought a grin to her lips and tears to her eyes as she drank down her watered liquor.

He may have been crazy, but he was _her_ crazy. just like her bookworm was _her_ bookworm, despite how annoying she could be.

Haley grimaced at that, "Don't...just don't think about her..."

Haley, feigning enthusiasm then raised her near empty glass to the ceiling and let out a harsh cackle before shouting, "Here's to us! And who is like us!?"

The Dursleys, hearing her shouting had came downstairs as Haley finished her drink, starring at the empty glass she eventually turned to face them and grinned. Snatching up the bottle of brandy the nine year old girl threw it at the wall and as it shattered she jumped off her chair only wavering about a little.

"Damn few, and they're all dead."

* * *

Petunia knew she was in trouble the moment she met _its_ burning green gaze.

_It_ knew what she was now, through whatever freakish means she had acquired, and she saw the emotions being expressed clearly.

Contempt. Spite. Rage. Hatred. Vengeance. Petunia knew these emotions well for she felt them every time her gaze rested on that ginger bitch's spawn, and now, now it was being returned.

The girl, who had apparently been drinking Vernon's best liquor, quivered a bit before them as she clenched her fists, and while her husband began to purple in rage, and Dudley looked about for something to hit the girl with, Petunia knew the truth.

They were seconds away from dying.

"If I said I was sorry would you believe me?"

Petunia couldn't believe the words had left her own mouth.

The girl blanched, loosened her fingers, and actually met her gaze for a moment before, of all things, she broke out laughing.

It was dark, vicious, hopeless laughter that froze her boys in place and actually made her take a step back. Haley just kept laughing, every time it petered out she would take a glance up at her and then begin laughing again, the shear and utter contempt held in that laughter as palpable as an emotion could be.

After a time she calmed down, the laughter ending in a wheezing sob, then she glanced up at her "_family"_ before turning away, "Just so you know, this was never my home. By the blessing's of Morgana and Circe I do declare you all exiled from the house of Evans. So it is is said, so mote shall it be. May your god save you, because I won't raise a finger in your defense. Not now, not ever. May you reap what you have sown."

With that, she vanished with a crack of displaced air.

Three days later, the Dursley family was tortured to death by an unknown group dressed in black wearing white skull masks, their home burnt to the ground. The police never found the responsible party.

* * *

"Hey teacher's pet!" Hermione didn't turn around at the taunt, that did not, unfortunately, stop the thrown book hitting her back very nearly sending her sprawling. Grimacing she turned around to address her designated bullies when a voice called out at the grinning group of girls.

"Dick move bitch. So, what? She's smarter than you and you think that gives you a right to single her out?"

Wait, what?

Turning she saw the new girl, Haley Potter if she remembered correctly, striding forward to stand between Hermione and her tormentors. Haley's wine red wavy ringlets blew in the wind as she rested a fist on her hip, looking for all the world like a vengeful Valkyrie.

"This has nothing to do with you Potter," the oldest girl stated, said girl shrugged at that while tilting her head to the side, her expression lost to Hermione.

"Looks like I made it something to do with me, now doesn't it? Don't you lot have somewhere else to be right now?"

There was a long silence, but eventually the group of girls sneered at her and left, snorting Haley walked over to Hermione and picked up the book that had been thrown at her.

"Hey check it out! Free book! You live around the corner right Granger? I'll walk you home, oh wow who the hell throws away a perfectly good Discworld novel?! Plebeians I swear! Err, right, Haley Potter, nice to meet you!"

Hermione stared at the incredibly strange girl before her a few moments before giggling and shaking her extended hand, "Hermione Granger, pleased to meet you! Errr...please feel free to call me by my first name..."

"Then call me Haley! So, are you really top of our year group? I mean that is rather impressive."

Hermione never noticed that they had not released hands until she was safely in her home.

Haley did, which only made her grin as she apparated away to her flat, only to be set upon by a young and annoyed snowy owl.

"Oi Hedwig stop it girl I'm sorry I was gone so long but I was in class!" The snowy owl did _not_ look placated as she landed on her perch, but rather then going on the attack again she gave her human a moment to explain.

Haley sighed, "Look, Mia was always...obsessed with rules and authority...well until they completely and utterly failed her at every turn and she started expressing some very amusing sociopathic tendencies."

Hedwig tilted her head at that which made Haley snort in amusement, "Reporter that went after us was an illegal animagus, a beetle. Hermione caught her and kept her trapped in a jar for weeks before making the bitch swear to never cross us again. She was so caught up in her revenge she never even considered how fucked up that situation was."

Hedwig barked in amusement which only had Haley laughing with an agreeing nod.

"I know right? Still... I've got two years before I have to go back to that madhouse, what should I do? Play dumb? Or introduce her to it all early?"

Hedwig managed to somehow look at her like she was raising a single contemptuous eyebrow.

Haley threw her hands up at that while beginning to pace about the room, "Ok fine, but seriously if Mia becomes a Dark Lady before we're even done with puberty it's on you."

Hedwig barked in amusement as Haley spun and glared at the owl, "NO! That is not something you should be proud of!"

The owl raised her wings in a shrugging gesture while turning away from her pet losing interest in the conversation.

Haley for her part wondered why she surrounded herself with so many crazy women before considering how boring it would be if she didn't, end of the world in the balance or not.

She let out a sigh at that before turning back to Sirius's legal documents, time to get her Dogfather back.

"Why not introduce more crazy to the equation, not like it can get any more fucked up than it is..."

* * *

Haley Potter was a realist first and foremost, she knew the situation would go tits up almost immediately after she had awoken and had put actions into motion the moment she had left the Dursleys to their well deserved fate.

Yes. She was well aware that disowning Petunia and Dudley from the Evans, and thus the Slytherin clan doomed them and in turn Vernon as well to a very likely painful death.

No. She did not give a fuck about it one way or another.

She and her _true family_ were still alive in the end after all, the incidental leftovers were nothing she would concern herself with when she had more important things to focus on.

Her first actions were actually the simplest all told, she had disillusioned herself after apparating outside of the Leaky Cauldron, sneaking into Diagon Alley, entered Gringotts, and met with a goblin teller without any fuss.

Thankfully the goblins acknowledged her magical signature's age and allowed her access to her family vaults while also giving her the control to cut all access to the Potter fortune to anyone who wasn't her.

She did so with glee.

After grabbing every heirloom wand present in the vaults as well as a proverbial metric shite tonne of gold and buying her beloved familiar she left the magical world behind to establish her new identity in the muggle world.

All so she could attend primary school with her maybe eventual future wife who was currently ten years old.

Holy shite did that sound creepy, even to her skewed standards.

It wasn't like Haley was going to force the potential relationship though, she just... Hermione had a rough childhood that caused her to rely on authority figures for any sort of positive reinforcement and praise. Her hope had been to make herself the friend her bookworm so desperately needed so she could have a healthier outlook on life.

That is what she told herself anyway.

In the end she knew she was being selfish, but fuck it, she had not asked for this burden to begin with and she would make due with what she could get when it came to acquiring some semblance of happiness.

Glancing up at the ceiling Haley with her hands behind her head laying on her bed let out a sigh before muttering out, "Hedwig I think I may be going insane."

With a flutter of feathered wings Hedwig landed on the foot of her bed frame and cocked her head to the side while stating a succinct, "Brek?"

Haley remained silent for a time before replying, "I... I know what I have to do, as daunting as it is, but I am so... absolutely furious about this entire situation that my resolve is wavering. Yes I've earned the friendship of my best friend, and possibly future partner but in my head I'm a jaded forty nine year old auror with a massive chip on her shoulder when it comes to authority. Hermione... She's ten for fucks sake Hed, what am I supposed to do? I feel like a fucking pedophile wanting to eventually rekindle a relationship with her, and lemme tell you, back when I was walking my beat I had more than a few of those sick fucks 'Killed while escaping arrest'."

Hedwig clacked her beak while Haley closed her eyes as true sorrow hit her, "I know, I know I may have to just let her go but fucking hell..." She sat up and threw her arms out wide while she screamed out, "I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS HEDWIG! I didn't ask to be the savior of the Goddess damned world, I didn't ask to be torn away from my wife, and I certainly didn't ask for my children to be fucking _deleted_ from existence!"

Jumping off her bed Haley walked back and forth, hands clasped behind her back as she muttered to herself, "Saffron, Jasmine, Rosalia, Lillian, they're all gone Hedwig. My daughters do not_ exist_ anymore, they likely will never be born now. Why, why should I give a fuck about any of this? Any of these ungrateful bastards? I lost my friends, my wife, my children, why should I fucking _CARE!?_"

Hedwig tilted her head slightly before flying over to her pet and once landing on her shoulder made a kind chirping noise as she rubbed up against Haley's face causing the frustrated witch's lips to curve up into a slight smile.

"Yeah... I guess you're right... That's just who I am... I can't not care, and they may very well become who I knew them as before... Damn this saving people thing... All right I need an ally, and I think I know _just_ who to recruit. Hehe..."

* * *

Haley wasn't going to lie to herself about this one, she was gonna enjoy this encounter a bit more than she should but that was in on itself part of her base nature. She very well may have inherited her mother's looks, temper, intelligence, and pragmatic outlook on life, but Haley would always be the daughter of James Potter.

The Original Prankster would be grinning with pride at the moment if he could see what his little girl was about to pull off, and that thought had her smirking impishly as she walked towards the front door of her targets home and pushed the doorbell button.

She had to wait for a time shivering in the December winds as snow fell around her petite form when the door eventually opened bringing with it a welcome wave of warm air. Pulling off her knit cap Haley tossed her flowing scarlet tresses behind her as she grinned up at the gaping man before her.

"Hello Severus, if you are not adverse to it I'd like to have a talk with you over tea."

The dark eyed man was obviously flummoxed but quickly gathered himself as he focused his gaze on the faded scar upon her forehead before meeting her emerald green eyes evenly, "Miss...Potter?"

She grinned and nodded at that, "Quite right Sev, I figured you would be home for the winter hols. No reason to stay in that drafty castle under that old goat fuckers thumb when there is no dunderheads to teach after all."

"Language young lady," he said with just the barest hints of a smirk, then he stepped aside gesturing for her to enter his home. Taking off her scarf and gloves Haley placed them on a side table while unbuttoning her jacket, though she kept it on due to the fact that her nine year old body was still a bit too malnourished to retain much heat.

Taking the seat he offered her Haley sat and waited for the still perplexed potions professor to prepare a tea service, eventually he placed the tray before her and she quickly poured herself a cup. Savoring the scent of the steam roiling from her drink as her cold fingers adsorbed the heat from the fine porcelain Haley took a sip of the scalding liquid before meeting the man's gaze evenly.

"You likely have more than a few questions I would imagine," she stated flatly, he gave her one taciturn nod which she just sighed at before continuing on. "Ok, for starters I am Haley Potter, daughter of Lily Potter nee Evans and James Potter, no I am not a normal nine year old girl anymore, and no it has nothing to do with Riddle's horcrux."

"Riddle's what?" Severus asked in genuine confusion, this only had Haley groaning while she dropped her head onto the back of her chair.

"That goddess damned goat fucker didn't even tell you... Of course he didn't this is Dumbledore we're talking about here." She let out an exasperated sigh then spent the next ten minutes going over details involved with violating the sanctity of ones own soul and what Riddle had accidentally turned Haley into.

To say that Severus was horrified would be an understatement.

"That is...that is monstrous!"

She could only nod in agreement, "Tell me about it, finding a quantifiable method to prove the existence of us having eternal souls and purposely going out of your way to destroy any chance of moving on from this horrible plane of existence? Insanity, pure insanity."

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment before finally getting to the crux of the matter, "How do you know all this?"

She smirked which caused the potions master to tense up, it was a melding of two very different, very alarming senses of humor and in that moment Severus Snape could easily accept that the child before him was the daughter of Lily Evans and James Potter.

"Well the thing is I am an unwilling time traveler sent back to prevent the end of the world, oh and take care of that nuisance Voldemort sooner rather than later. I suppose I should give you my full name and rank... Hello! I am the Lady Haley Lily Potter-Granger, head Auror of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I am forty nine years of age, I have...had four wonderful daughters, two grandsons, and a loving wife, and am currently doing everything in my power to fuck up as many deserving peoples lives as physically possible so I can focus on important shite. Like making sure half of North America doesn't get blown up by a death cult causing a nuclear winter that eventually goes...well... nuclear... That was the muggles fault by the way, I had nothing to do with it other than calling it happening and being readily ignored by every other country, because Dumbledore had burnt up all our nations international goodwill before I was even born."

Severus stared at her for a full thirty seconds before finally stating, "I am going to need a drink for the unabridged version am I not?"

Haley nodded once, "I suggest the cognac, as much as you want the tequila I know you and you are going to be angry enough as is." He sighed, walked off to a cabinet, poured himself a drink and then returned to his seat, downing more then half the glass in one pull he let out a vexed sigh then met her gaze with tired eyes.

"You realize how insane this all sounds?"

She shrugged, "You have the nine year old daughter of your long dead best friend sitting at your kitchen table speaking like an adult, treating you as an equal, and being completely comfortable in your presence despite the fact I know you are the one who gave the prophecy to Riddle. Which, by the way, I forgive you for, you had chosen your side and simply did your duty, even if you were serving a psychopath. So either I'm some weird as hell fluke of magical maturity taking a ninety degree turn or I am indeed far older than I appear."

Severus stared at her for a few moments before he scoffed and finished his drink, "You are very straight to the point while being effectively analytical."

Haley scoffed at that as she refilled her tea cup, "Sev I was a bobby for damn near thirty years, it's what I do."

He nodded a few moments before letting out a soft sigh, extending his right arm he summoned the bottle of cognac from the side table and refilled his glass before replying, "Why are you so comfortable around me?"

Haley responded to that immediately, "You bullied me, my first year that is. You saw what you wanted to see, James Potter's spawn, nothing more, nothing less. Then, through some random events of timing in my second year you overheard me tell my bookworm that I was supposed to be sorted into Slytherin, the only reason I was put in Gryffindor was because I ran into Draco before being sorted. Wanting nothing to do with him I did not want to be a snake, I did not have the sense of loyalty to be a puff, did not have the single minded study ethic to be a claw, so the only place I could go was the Lion Den."

Haley stared down into her tea, analyzing her own reflection for a time before continuing, "Students had been petrified all year long, through some convoluted means one of Riddle's horcruxes had used Salazar Slytherin's basilisk to pull it off but the student body blamed me for it all since I'm a parselmouth. Anyway, the fucker petrified my bookworm and well..."

She glanced up and met his dark gaze evenly, "That's when you found me researching the Dark Arts in the dead of night, alone in the library, trying to find a way to not only hunt down and kill the bastard that had hurt Hermione, but to also make him suffer for as long as possible..."

Severus stared at her for a time then finally spoke, "What happened then?"

Haley only smiled for a time before averting her gaze, "You made me your apprentice, you adopted me later that year, on my thirteenth birthday..."

There was dead silence for roughly ten minutes, then she giggled a bit and her eyes lit up with mirth, "When my godfather broke out of Azkaban a week later and found out that 'Snivelus' was now my legal guardian...well lets just say Sirius Black had a bit of a conniption."

At _that_ Severus Snape broke out laughing.

Mission accomplished, ally gained.

Haley 1, Riddle 0

* * *

_Dreams always made her suffer._

_London was burning, again._

_They'd been struck by another nuke last night, a five megaton Minuteman sent by some warlord from whatever the fuck was left from the colonies, and Haley silently cursed the stupid sons of bitches who had gained control of the said weapon._

_"Did they even give a reason?" She asked Dennis who ran a hand through his sweat soaked hair before shaking his head slowly._

_"None My Lady, I think it was just another splinter group who found an old outpost and decided 'fuck it' and fired at the closest foreign nation. Again."_

_"I am getting really tired of this bullshi-" Her growing tirade stopped as the underground fortress shook and she glanced at her technomancer in question. Dennis Creavey just dropped his head on the smart screen in front of him and swore for about thirty seconds in German before speaking directly to her._

_"The Russians just hit London with another nuke..."_

_Haley gritted her teeth before turning away from her trusted adviser all while trying to keep her temper under restraint, "I hate everything about everything right now. I just want to make that clear."_

_"Ditto," he groused out before finally lifting his head from the screen and getting back to work, after all the job needed done and most of his apprentices were...*sigh,* killed in action._

_Haley left the technomancer behind and soon entered her office that was thankfully several hundred meters below the surface, and pulled her desk drawer open soon planting a bottle of liquor before her and apparently decided to have a staring contest with it._

_Then her eldest daughter entered the room ruining said contest._

_Jasmine__ stared down at the half empty bottle a moment, pulling a cinnamon strand of hair behind her ear as her emerald green gaze met Haley's and then she sat herself in the visitors chair letting out a sigh of defeat._

_"They're doing it again mum..."_

_Haley just nodded, poured a glass of whiskey, and pushed it towards her daughter before drinking directly from the bottle itself._

_"Yeah..."_

_Jasmine__ stared at her mother for a few moments before letting out an exasperated snort, "We're fucked, aren't we?"_

_Haley lifted her head and then grinned at her daughter while playfully stating, "Language young lady."_

_Jasmine__ scoffed as she picked up her glass and finished it off in one gulp and quickly sliding it back towards Haley, "Oh fuck off mum it isn't like mom is around to chide me right now. So refill my glass and tell me exactly how screwed we are and what we plan to do about it."_

_Haley smiled and did just that, more proud of her daughter than she thought possible as she just simply nodded along at the ongoing explanation. Then the room exploded as a deep penetration bomb detonated in the center of the DMLE sending her daughters now decapitated body towards her in a spray of blood and viscera._

* * *

She was screaming, enraged, and pained beyond words, Haley knew that much at least as she was desperately grabbing for the wand that was _not_ holstered to her wrist for some reason when a firm and caring voice burnt through the haze of her nightmare.

"Haley, HALEY! Wake up! Whatever you're going through it isn't real, it is only a dream!"

If only that were the truth, if only her daughters were still...

Haley blinked and her mind seemed to clear a bit.

She snapped up and stared at the concerned gaze of Severus Snape, and realized she was truly safe under his roof, he had after all practically demanded she stay the night so he was sure she wouldn't disappear like a fae in the mists of morning.

The thought of someone caring about her that wasn't her bookworm or children made her break out crying then.

How...embarrassing...

Severus though didn't hesitate when he wrapped his arms around her in a hug and her only response was to dig her fingers into his back tighter then was necessary as she sobbed out unintelligible cries into his shoulder.

She sat there for a time, crying to herself while the man she had despised during her early Hogwarts career tried to calm her down before truly getting to know her and she could not help marveling at the audacity of this situation.

Though... Severus gave very excellent hugs so she wasn't going to complain, maybe mum had been on to something there before they both fucked it all up.

Eventually she stopped freaking out and muttered, "I dreamed about one of my daughters... And emotionally, rather than intellectually realized they very well may never exist now... No matter what I do."

Severus may be callous, but in the matters of parents who actually cared about their children...

"I'm so sorry..."

Haley began crying again, but it was a quiet gentle thing this time and she held her new mentor as close as she possibly could until she fell back to sleep in his arms.

* * *

"You look tired," Hermione said to her best friend. Well...her only friend.

She only needed the one regardless, quality over quantity after all.

Haley gave her a wan smile while shrugging lightly, "Nightmares Mia, dreamed I had a big loving family, and they were all torn from me and I was left alone without anyone to care about. Thankfully my uncle was there to calm me down."

Hermione gasped, grasped Haley's hands and wove her fingers through her own, "Are you ok?"

Haley stared at her a moment then nodded while sniffing slightly trying to ignore the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, "Yeah...I think I'll be alright as long as you are around."

Hermione gave her best friend a brilliant smile as she nodded cheerfully, "Of course! I will always be there for you!"

Haley looked like she was about to fall apart as she nodded and glanced away, "I know, it's who you are my precocious little bookworm."

Hermione paused at that, tilted her head to the side, and smiled, "I'm _your_ bookworm?"

Haley smiled slightly as she averted her gaze, "Sorry, just the way I see you..."

"I like it," Hermione stated cheerfully, then she stood up and glanced around the library, "I need to swap books out for our next assignment, I'll be right back."

As she walked away Haley's gaze followed the young witch before she allowed herself to smile, "It'll be worth it... I just have to be patient... I... hope... I hope I don't ruin your life again..."

* * *

If someone were to observe the unlikely pair walking down the street they would note that Haley was wearing a slightly over sized black peacoat, trousers, fur lined boots, a wide emerald green scarf wrapped around her face, and a newsboy cap with a little 'PRESS' tag sticking out of its band atop her head.

Severus was wearing an expensive calf length black wool overcoat over an immaculate suit, polished black leather shoes, and a matching emerald scarf, his gloved hand holding onto the girl beside him as they made their way through the hustle and bustle of downtown London.

If said observer thought they were father and daughter, well, at the moment neither Potions Master or Displaced Time Traveler would feel up to disagreeing on the point.

"You used to take me here all the time, it was our favorite place to warm up when the weather got bad," Haley muttered as they stopped at a sandwich shop, and despite the scarf around her face Severus could tell she was grinning.

"Their mushroom bisque is exquisite," he stated flatly and she nodded quickly as she followed him in while pulling her gloves off blowing on her hands after pulling her scarf down.

"Right? Then they throw in that thinly shaved Swiss cheese and give you that sour dough bread to soak it all up? Amazing!"

Severus smiled at Haley's ecstatic smile and jerked his head to the side, "Well I know what you want obviously, get us a table and I'll place our orders, let me guess your drink, lemonade?"

Haley raised a brow at that, "How-"

"You're like a more overtly violent and straight forward version of your mother dear, it was not that hard to guess, take a seat I'll be back in a moment."

Grinning Haley took a seat and eventually Severus arrived with their meals and the pair began eating, midway through her soup Haley eventually spoke up.

"I think I'm more fucked up than I thought I was when I initially came back in time."

Dipping his bread into the soup Severus nodded while he chewed the morsel before replying.

"First, language, second I would say you need help but I am at a loss as to who we could bring into this little conspiracy. While you attending primary school is an outlet let us be honest here, it is incredibly unhealthy and in the long term detrimental to your recovery."

Haley grit her teeth and turned her gaze to the side while she ground out, "Hermione was my rock, she was always there thr-"

"She is not your wife Haley. She is just a child of ten, dear."

Haley froze, sighed, then finished her soup.

They didn't say anything else as they finished their meals and left the restaurant while pulling their scarves and gloves back into place, eventually as they walked down the sidewalks Haley let out a tired sigh.

"I... Think I know of a medical professional who may be able to listen to me and keep her mouth shut but..."

Severus raised a brow, "But?"

Haley sighed, "Before I was sent back we kind of...slept together."

"Really?"

She shook her head slowly, "Look, Nymphadora, Edward, Teddy, my girls, Mia, they were all dead Sev. Our families were _dead_ and _gone_, so we found comfort in each other's arms in those last days..."

Severus nodded at that, "Did it mean anything?"

She snorted at that sounding highly amused, "Outside of the physical? No."

"Then quit being so obstinate and get the help you need and stop hemming and hawing about it like a dunderhead."

Haley barked out a laugh then gently bumped into Severus' side, "See this right here? This is why I'm friends with you."

Rather than saying something cruel or crude in reply Severus just smiled and patted her shoulder as she leaned into his side and his arm stayed in place, guiding her down the street.

Eventually he muttered, "I'm glad to have made friends with you. Lily...she always said I needed more of them."

Haley nodded at the slightly, "Smart woman, my mum."

Severus then grinned, "Terrible choice in men though."

She smirked while glancing up to meet Severus' gaze, "I know right? Look at her choice in friends!"

He snorted in amusement while shaking his head, "Walked into that one. So are you going to call this healer and talk to her?"

Haley glanced up towards the gray sky then shook her head, "Not now, but soon. I just... Sev I'm... I'm so..."

"Just don't let it consume you, trust me, I understand to an extent what you are going through. Change of subject, Black?"

At that she broke his embrace to throw her arms out in exasperation, "Do you have any idea how many laws that goat fucker broke to keep Sirius in Azkaban without a trial? Especially with him still being the designated heir to an Ancient Noble House even if he doesn't care about it!?

"All of them I would assume," Severus deadpanned.

"All. Of. Them." Haley over enunciated while staring him directly in the eye. "The only way this bullshit could actually go through was if someone-"

"Dumbledore-"

"-was actively keeping the legal system from taking a cursory glance at the case! Ever since I filed the first bit of paperwork the goat fucker has been doing everything in his power to obstruct the legal process and I'm starting to really lose my patience with this bullshit."

"Language young lady."

"Fuck you."

"Not a pedophile so I'll pass."

"You know what? Honestly? Half tempted to just blow the prison up and drag the mutt out of the rubble at this point."

Severus hummed a moment then shrugged while meeting Haley's frustrated gaze, "I could always just dose the headmaster with a laxative next time you try to file paperwork. He would be indisposed indefinitely until you got it all processed."

Haley stopped dead in her tracks, stared at Severus in confusion, then grinned and hugged him, "Dad sometimes I forget how resourceful you are. Thank you."

Severus froze up at her slip of title, and smiled as he patted her back, "Think nothing of it, now how bad do you wish this unfortunate case of irritable bowel syndrome to be dear?"

She broke the hug, took a step back, and grinned up at him, "_Explosive."_

* * *

Severus awoke to a young girl screaming, again.

Sighing he stood from his bed while quickly making his way to the guest room and once opening the door felt a pang of regret.

Hovering above the bed with glowing green eyes wide, wine red hair billowing about on unseen winds, and uncontrolled tears running down her cheeks accompanied with sobs of despair, the doll like child made Severus pause a moment as he reflected on the simple fact that her current state was all his fault.

If only he had kept his mouth shut about that damned prophecy...

Stepping forward he reached out and pulled the small girl into his arms and tried not to seize up as she latched her arms around his neck.

Holding Haley tightly Severus whispered reassuring words to her as he ran a hand down her back, not moments later she buried her face into his shoulder and began rambling.

"Dad they won't go away, I can't, they don't, I can't stop seeing them. Everyone, everyone is gone, everyone died! I should have done more, all gone, gone, gone, gone, gone... Everyone I ever loved is dead and gone!"

Taking a gamble Severus whispered out, "I'm still here dear," and at that she began relaxing but he still felt the electric current of power thrumming through the room and while he knew it was a bad idea to go this route especially after his past admonishments... "and so is Hermione... She is still alive."

"Mia..." she mewled out before her sobbing soon went silent and the magical power thrashing about the room faded as she finally fell back to sleep, letting out a tired sigh Severus placed the now slumbering girl back into her bed and soon came to a hard decision.

It could not wait, Lily's daughter needed help and she needed it now.

* * *

Senior Healer Andromeda Tonks was many things and a dullard was not one of them, so upon answering the knock on her door and seeing Hogwarts' resident potions master standing on her front porch she immediately tensed up and met his gaze evenly.

Her daughter had told many tales of the mans biased cruelty and by the look she was receiving from him she knew _he_ knew it as well, but still his obvious apprehension gave her pause.

"Healer Tonks," he stated blandly.

She nodded in turn while replying with, "Potions Master Snape."

They stared at each other for a time before he finally broke his gaze and sighed, running a hand down his face he eventually spoke, "I...rather my ward, have need of your assistance."

That had her brows raising in surprise, "Your ward?"

He nodded sullenly, "My best friend's daughter. She...she had experienced a hard life before she found her way to me. While I have been able to...play the part of father figure to her she is much too fragile to keep this up. She needs proper treatment, she needs someone who can fully understand what she has gone through without personal bias getting in the way..."

Sighing Andromeda motioned for him to enter the house and soon led the wizard to her office, taking a seat behind her desk she offered him the guest chair while giving him a calculating stare until he made himself comfortable.

Leaning back she bridged her fingers together while giving Severus a speculative once over, "All right then, what exactly, has she 'Gone Through'?"

At this point the taciturn man seemed to lose a bit of control over his composure as he leaned forward and snarled out his response, "They treated her like an abused house elf at best, beating her, belittling her, forcing her to cook their meals when she was barely able to reach the stove top standing on a chair!"

Severus tried to keep Haley's revelations vague, but he was infuriated on her behalf and was having trouble controlling his emotions at the moment. Meeting the shocked healer's gaze he sneered as he continued on, "Up until the age of five when she entered primary school she thought her name was freak or whore. She was whipped with a belt whenever she got better grades than her dullard cousin, and was constantly told that her mother was a prostitute that her drug addled father pimped out to pay for their vices, and that they died drunk, leaving her behind for her _kind_ relatives to care for."

Andromeda Tonks was not a stupid woman, she knew there was about to be a harsh revelation that she likely wanted no part of yet still she kept her gaze even with the potions master as she calmly asked, "What is your wards name?"

Severus let out a tired sigh as he responded, "Haley Lillian Potter."

Her response actually had Severus laugh out loud.

"What the literal fucking hell!? Cousin Jamie's little girl!?"

Well, at least he wasn't alone in his opinion on how the Girl-Who-Lived was handled, now that it had been put out on the table it was time for Haley to step forward and try and allow others to help her heal herself.

It...distressed Severus a bit that he had no idea if she could pull it off or not.

* * *

"I can't believe you went behind my back like this Sev," Haley growled out as she walked down the sidewalk towards the Tonks home, shooting her companion an acidic look that he chose to ignore.

"Dear you said you would take care of this eventually, the current stipulation was until we were able to free Black, what excuse would you have come up with to avoid the ghosts of the past after that?"

Haley remained silent for a time before she dropped her head and let out resigned sigh, "We've only known each other in this time period for a couple of weeks Sev how the hell do you read me so well?"

He shrugged near imperceptibly as he replied, "First off, I am a spy, learning how to read people was a must to ensure survival. Second off, I was not mearly being nostalgic when I said you were a more straight forward and violent version of your mother. She would often neglect her own well being when focused on a project, or more appropriately in your case, did not wish to face uncomfortable truths of reality and put it off as long as possible."

Stopping before the Tonks home Haley ran a gloved hand down her face once before muttering out, "This is gonna suck."

Severus raised a brow at that, "Suck?"

She rolled her eyes, "A colloquialism inferring that the situation is undesirable and likely going to be painfully miserable on multiple levels and there is not anything you can really do about it."

"Ah," was all he had to say to that.

Taking in a shuddering breath Haley nodded to herself and walked up the path to the front porch and after gathering her wits a moment knocked on the door.

Eventually it swung open to reveal a beautiful woman with warm lilac eyes, wavy brown hair, and an inviting smile.

Wow...Andi had been beautiful in the future but in her prime with none of the personal loses and stress involved with scrabbling about for survival she was downright stunning. What mattered most to Haley though, was she did not look anything like the woman she had been intimate with decades from now in a future that would never exist, which meant she might actually be able to get through this.

"Hello, you must be Miss Potter yes?"

Smiling in return she nodded quickly, "Haley please, it is a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Tonks."

Andromeda offered her hand to the young girl and guided her into the house while saying, "We're family around here dear please just call me Andi."

Severus hung back and sat down in the living room as Haley was led to Andi's office and after taking a seat she soon removed her gloves, scarf and hat.

Eventually Andromeda returned with a mug of hot cocoa and placed it before Haley while taking her own seat, then just sat there for a time watching the young redhead sip on her near scalding drink.

Haley contemplated how to handle this situation but honestly found herself at a loss, how did she broach the subject of time travel without sounding like a nutter?

Ugh...

"How are you feeling right now Haley?"

She smiled wanly at that, "Tired Andi, very...tired..."

"A lack of sleep?"

Fuck it.

"And a lack of hope if I were to be honest."

"You've lost hope?"

"We lost, all we had was hope, now I'm the only one left."

Andromeda, reasonably looked confused at that statement, "Only one left?"

Haley was not good at this sort of thing, there was a reason she had been a bobby and not a politician, she'd left that insanity up to her wife.

Sighing she placed the still warm mug on the desk while leaning back in her chair meeting the older woman's gaze evenly, "Yeah. Look you aren't going to believe me, at first anyway, but I'm from the future. Well, my consciousness is from the future at the very least. It was a timey wimey sorta deal involving technomancy and the details were admittedly beyond my understanding."

Andromeda raised a brow at this while Haley took in a deep breath and continued, "Everyone was dead, my wife, my daughters, your husband, your daughter who was also my mentor, the majority of our friends, most of humanity, and the world itself were _dead_. One of my subordinates developed a time machine that was a one way trip since using it would literally erase the timeline up to the point you were sent back to. I was just waiting to die so I could see my loved ones again and wanted nothing to do with the project, instead the few people I had left that cared for me stunned me and threw me into the machine. By the time I woke up the sequence was already nearing completion and I was sent back to my nine year old body."

Haley laughed darkly at that while shaking her head, "I have survivors guilt, PTSD, ingrained combat reflexes, night terrors, and I keep falling back on old routines and...and I'm really fucked up and I feel like I'm about to fall apart at any moment. I have to try and save the world, literally stop a continent from blowing up, but I can't find it in myself to care... My wife is a ten year old girl, my daughters will never exist, and I have a meddling old goat fucker trying to arrange my death at the hands of the worlds most incompetent dark lord. I just do-"

She was interrupted when Andromeda picked her up out of her chair and pulled her into a tight hug, and it was at that point Haley realized she'd been crying.

"It's ok, just let it out."

"Yo-you believe me?"

Andromeda pulled her a bit closer as she whispered, "I'm a Black, do you honestly think it was just cocoa in that drink?"

Rather then being angry, Haley laughed, then sobbed, then cried for a good ten minutes. Eventually she was placed back in her chair and Andromeda returned to her own seat while Haley tried to compose herself.

When she managed to speak without hiccuping Haley quietly asked, "Dad told you some of this didn't he?"

Andromeda nodded slowly in return, "To be fair I was highly skeptical at first but the babbling potion along with your articulation proved that you were no ordinary nine year old, and if you would be willing to donate a couple memories for me to view to solidify your claim we can begin the journey of putting your psyche back together with something other than sticking charms and duct tape."

Haley laughed at that while nodding, then smiled as she met Andi's gaze evenly, "Deal, lets pick a happy memory... How about the first time Dora and I met when I was just a teenage brat who desperately needed an older sister figure in my life and she stepped up to be just that?"

Andi smiled, "I would love that."

* * *

At the end of the day, while she gave Severus the cold shoulder for a short time for deceiving her, Haley had to admit that for the first time in a long time, she felt...ok. Not great, not fine, no where near perfect, but...she had some hope for tomorrow.

And that was more than she had started the morning off with, so she would take it.

"Thank you Sev..." They were in his dining room eating a late dinner, she had not said a word to him since they got back from her appointment with Andi so he was a bit startled by her statement.

Collecting himself Severus nodded slowly, "I apologize for the duplicity but yo-"

"I'm as stubborn as both my parents and I would have made excuses to avoid doing what I did today until I was blue in the face. You only had my well being in mind I get that, I just..."

Sighing she pushed away from the table and hopped off her chair while heading towards her room, "I just...thanks, for caring enough to do that dad...it's...nice to have someone watching my back again... I'll talk to you in the morning I need some sleep."

Severus watched her retreating form and stared at her now closed door for few minutes before letting out a tired sigh, "Any time, little one."

* * *

"How are you feeling today?" Andromeda asked Haley as the war veteran in a child's body sat before her with a cup of tea in hand.

"I am...tired, dad had to go back to Hogwarts so it has just been me and my owl the past week. Hermione is worried about me, she knows something is up but she is too afraid to lose our recently developed friendship to dig deeper, Circe only knows how long that'll last though. That witch does _not_ like not knowing every detail about everything."

There was an uncomfortable silence before Haley glanced to the side in frustration, "Also, I considered suicide again last night, only for a moment but still it happened."

Andromeda nodded slowly as she leaned forward slightly, "How did you feel after having that thought?"

Haley sighed, "Disgusted with myself. Even if...even if everything and everyone wasn't riding on me seeing this through it was a moment of weakness that offended me on multiple levels."

More silence, then she continued, "The thing that got me through my early life was that I was stubborn and proud, so stubborn that nothing could beat me down not even Dumbledore's attempts at grooming me to be a sacrificial lamb for a war he could have ended decades before if he wasn't such a pacifistic control freak."

Running a hand down her face Haley shook her head slowly while meeting Andromeda's caring gaze, "I was beaten, starved, humiliated, molested, and once nearly raped by those that were considered my guardians, but I never let their actions break me. I had my pride, I knew I was smart, I knew I was clever, I knew I was pretty, I knew I was better then them. So up till my eleventh birthday I held on...then I found out I was witch. I found out my parents were not drunken degenerates living on the doll, that they were in fact war heroes. I found out they died protecting me from a madman, I found out I was special, I found out I wasn't the freak, the Dursleys were..."

Sighing Haley shrugged slightly, "So letting the depression get to me to the point that I wanted to just down a bottle of pills and a serving of wine for twelve sort of pissed me off to the point that suicide wasn't an option and I was able to center myself long enough to think straight again."

Andromeda tapped her desk with her forefinger a few times before asking, "The thought of giving in, folding your hand so to speak disgusts you, doesn't it?"

Haley clenched her fists and nodded, "In the graveyard where he was resurrected Riddle leered over me as I spat on his robes and he muttered 'Defiant to the end are we?' and you know what? That pissed me off beyond words."

Fingers running through her hair Haley jumped from her chair and began pacing as she continued on, "He had just ordered the man who betrayed my parents to murder my boyfriend, had used my blood in a ritual that defied the natural balance of life, and tortured me under the cruciatus curse for the laughs. _Then_ the sick fuck made me duel him in front of his inner circle like it was some sort of challenge.

"He, a sixty year old dark lord against a battered, badly wounded and recently tortured fourteen year old girl, and he acted like my refusal to bow down to him was offensive... That...that set the tone I think, for who I grew into as an adult."

Haley took in a deep breath before returning to her seat shaking her head slowly, "I will not bow, I will not bend, I will not break. I will defy anyone who tries to control and hinder me with my last dying breath... So...the thought of suicide, the simple fact that the impulse was even there... Scares me..."

Wrapping her arms around her legs Haley pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them while focusing on the teacup she had left on the desk, eventually though Andromeda spoke up sounding very tired.

"Haley you cannot blame yourself for being this stressed out."

The redhead glanced up and met the older woman's gaze with a raised brow which earned her a sigh in return. "You say you are tired but I think it's more than that dear, you're not tired, you're emotionally exhausted. From the time the volcanic eruption in North America occurred to the final End, how long did it take for it all to come to a close?"

Haley was silent for a time before she finally replied with, "Five years. The first year was spent with everyone scrambling about trying to figure out what the fuck to do, then it was two years of bolstering the bulwarks, then another two years of humanity killing itself off scrambling about trying to claim whatever scraps they could find. Then, wiping each other out for them."

"And did you ever take any time off during this five year period?"

Haley shot a heated glare towards Andromeda at that, "Of COURSE not! I had family, friends, a nation relying on me to protect them! I...it...it wasn't until there was nothing left that..." Deflating she dropped her head back to her knees and eventually she started in surprise as Andromeda placed a hand on her shoulder, a sad smile on her face as she shook her head slowly.

"And you went straight from that to being thrown back in time and immediately tasked yourself with saving everyone, again, didn't you?"

That...was...

"...Yeah..."

Andromeda shook her head slowly, "As I said, you are exhausted, and you are only going to hurt yourself and those around you if you keep pushing yourself. Yes, you have the knowledge to save the world, but is it going to end tomorrow? Next week? The next year? The next decade?"

Her question was met with silence for a time before Haley finally whispered out, "No..."

Leaning against her desk Andromeda stared down at the emotionally damaged witch before her for a time before finally asking, "You told me my daughter was your mentor, yes?"

That made Haley smirk as she nodded, "I would never have gotten into half the trouble, or had half as much fun in my life if it wasn't for Dora..."

Andromeda smiled at that as she leaned forward to meet Haley's gaze evenly, "How would you like to renew that mentorship?"

Haley felt her throat tighten and her eyes teared up a little at the thought of reforming the unbreakable bond she had with her sister, and before she could stop herself she gave Andromeda a watery smile as she nodded quickly.

"I'd love that."

* * *

Haley was staring down at her lap for a time when she heard someone approach her, glancing up she met the violet eyes framed by the pink bangs with a smile.

"Wotcher! M'name's Tonks, mum says yer family and I'm supposed to be looking after ya?"

Haley stared at the metamorph before her and did everything in her power not to cry.

She failed.

Tonks had her wrapped in her arms seconds later, bewildered but accepting as the little girl in her embrace broke down sobbing, begging her forgiveness.


	2. Embracing Your Marauder Heritage

**So this was insomnia induced but I forced myself to make sure that the actual chapter itself was at the bare minimum 2k words not including the author note, I went through all the effort of reformatting, editing, and reposting this story so I very much did not want to half ass it.**

**I may have quite likely missed some typos and misspellings and I'll take another look at it tonight when I've had some sleep and all that, no worries.**

**Also I have no idea how it happened but I ended up really liking this Severus and wanted to have a longish scene dedicated to he and Haley interacting in a somewhat domestic manner, thus this chapter, weird how that works out.**

**Anywho, hope you all enjoy, and hope you all have a great weekend!**

* * *

Severus Snape knocked on the door of the flat currently inhabited by his soon to be adoptive daughter letting out an exhausted sigh, crossing his arms while leaning against the opposite wall he glared onward at nothing in particular with something a casual observer would likely describe as low level brooding.

The door soon swung open and Severus felt his jaw physically drop as Lily Evans stared him down as her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Dad, why are you here an hour early? You know what? Never mind, come in explain it to me while I finish making dinner."

A moment later the red haired woman pulled Severus into her home and pushed him into a chair while turning back to the stove, it took the taciturn man a few moments to shake his head and clear his thoughts before he managed to finally grate out a reply.

"Dear, pardon my inability to be loquacious at the moment but what the hell is going on?"

Haley's cheeks heated slightly while she flitted about her small kitchen, eventually she placed a plate of garlic roasted red potatoes in the center of the table and soon busied herself with checking the chicken in the oven.

"Err... I was experimenting with an aging potion, I was trying to get myself to look like I did at twenty two and well..."

Severus lifted a single brow as she glanced to the side and coughed into her hand, "I kinda forgot what I looked like at twenty two..."

Severus sighed, speared one of the potatoes with his knife, chewed on a bite of it, then turned back to Haley, "So, you had not intentionally made yourself look like..."

Haley huffed as she turned back to the stove while rolling her eyes, "No I did not intend to make myself look like a sex goddess, blame my mothers genes for this travesty if you must. Plus side it will certainly make the sexy librarian look easier to pull off later this week, silver lining and all."

Taking the chicken out of the oven she quickly began cutting it apart while basting the roast with it's juices and soon placed the carved dish before her adoptive father soon fixing a plate for herself as he followed her example. They ate in silence for a time before Severus finally let curiosity get the better of him and spoke up after he cleared his plate and pushed it away from himself.

"Haley, what are you about to do?"

Said witch paused a moment as she was chewing her food then quickly swallowed her mouth full of chicken and potatoes before matching Severus' gaze.

Haley's brilliant emerald gaze lost its luster as she stared Severus down, a moment later she shot her eyes aside and muttered, "What needs to be done."

Severus sighed at that while shaking his head slowly, "That is not just your call to make dear."

Haley slammed her knife into the table and you could practically feel the temperature drop around them as she seethed out, "Whose is it then? Dumbledore's? Riddle's? Your's?"

"You need to stop compartmentalizing and recognize the fact that there are people who would be devastated if something were to happen to you, I just want to help while keeping you safe dear, really."

As if to mock her the aging potion wore off at that moment and instead of the confidant witch in her prime there was now scared looking nine year old girl in over sized clothes folding back in on herself as she whispered out, "I don't want you to die pointlessly again..."

Severus had to resist every impulse within himself to rush over to the child and comfort her, knowing that coddling her would accomplish nothing, while also being aware he could offer her no real reassurances towards his own survival.

It was in all reality a stalemate really.

Severus then decided it was time to redirect this entire awkward conversation away from him, "You should probably go put on clothes that actually fit dear."

Haley sighed and nodded as Severus averted his gaze lest he accidentally see something that he would very much rather not, she returned a few minutes later in a t-shirt and ankle length skirt. Fidgeting about nervously she was spared further discomfort as Severus spoke up in a questioning tone.

"How was your day with Miss Tonks?"

Haley smiled wanly while shrugging lightly hopping back onto her chair, "Fun, once I got over the fact that I was in the presence of teenage version of the woman who was the closest thing I ever had to a sister. I think I weirded her out a bit at first but in the end she agreed to exchange letters with me which all things considered I am fine with."

There was silence for a time before Severus replied to the now awkwardly shuffling child, "Is there more to it then that?"

Haley sighed, then nodded slowly, "She's so innocent dad, it's disconcerting. My Tonks, she was...well, for lack of a better word bitter. She was still loving and caring, and incredibly fun to be around yet she always had this hard edged aura around her that frankly intimidated the hell out of most everyone. She had lost her husband, her father, nearly all of her friends and found herself a single mother who everyone expected to keep up her duties as an Auror because really, she was like one of the five we had left. She grew up fast out of necessity, and this younger Tonks is just so..."

"As you said earlier, innocent?" Severus asked laconically.

She nodded at that while pinching the bridge of her nose, "I keep... I keep messing up with the people I was closest with because I keep expecting them to act like the adults they were forced into becoming, Tonks hasn't had nearly everyone she has ever loved murdered while she could do nothing to stop it. Mia hasn't had her preconceived notions of authority figures brutally destroyed by their own actions and inactions. I'm dreading what dealing with Neville and Luna is going to be like, aside from Tonks they became my most openly cynical sounding boards while managing to retain a sense of hope for the future."

She let out a withering sigh as she met Severus' dark gaze, "I feel like I'm running on a treadmill at full speed, no matter how fast I run, no matter how much effort I put into it, I have gone nowhere and all I have to show for it is exhaustion and a deep resignation that no matter what I do it won't really matter in the end."

There was a very awkward silence after that, Severus, the natural born pessimist that he was having no real idea what to say in response. Eventually Haley sighed and dropped her head back while letting out a bitter laugh.

"In the end it doesn't even matter, one of my favorite musicians sang a song with those lyrics you know? His music got me through a lot of my darker moments because I felt like I was listening to a kindred spirit, then he ended up committing suicide... Guess I was right despite how depressing it was..."

"Haley-"

She cut him off with a shake of her head, "I'm depressed and frustrated but I'm not suicidal at the moment dad, don't worry about that. I'm...damnit I'm sorry." She ran her hands across her face a few times before letting out a frustrated scream into her palms, a few moments later she began speaking again.

"Goddess I was the worst possible choice to send back... All right, day after tomorrow I need you to dose the goatfucker with your magical laxatives from hell. I honestly have no idea what detection method he has set up with the records department to inform him that anyone is looking up information on Sirius but I have a feeling it won't matter if he's praying for death upon the porcelain throne. I'm going to dose myself with the aging potion, dye my hair black, play at being a distant relative of the Blacks then file a request for the trial records for Sirius, without his interference it will be flagged within minutes because there are _not_ any said trial records."

Severus, accepting that their earlier conversation was over with nodded in return, "At which point you can request a review from the DMLE and considering how high profile of a prisoner the mutt is it will cross the director's desk due to protocol if nothing else."

Haley nodded looking beyond exhausted as she planted her elbow on the table while resting her chin in her palm, "At that point the damage is done, too many wheels will be in motion and far too many people are going to be asking how the fuck the heir to an Ancient Noble house ended up in Azkaban without even being charged, much less the complete lack of trial and conviction."

Severus scoffed at that, "I'm almost looking forward to the old manipulator talking his way out of that one."

Haley rolled her eyes while tersely replying, "He'll lay the entire thing at Bagnold and Crouch's feet and all while playing his disappointed grandfather act. Fucker is if nothing else a political survivor and considering Bagnold is dead and everyone up to and including his own family despises Crouch, it'll stick."

Severus raised a brow, "That doesn't bother you?"

She shot him a wry smirk while shrugging slightly, "I knew beforehand that I wouldn't be free from the goatfucker that easily, and like I said everyone despises Crouch, myself included. Hitler mustached bastard threw my godfather into prison without a second thought despite him being one of the DMLE's top aurors, I have absolutely no issues with Crouch being crucified for his actions."

"Vindictive little thing are we not?"

Haley smirked at that, "I take after my mother after all."

He snorted while nodding lightly, "That you do, is there anything else?"

She nodded before hopping down from her chair and walked towards her desk returning with a manila folder handing it over to Severus, "Adoption papers, sign them and I'll have them filed by lunch tomorrow. I'll do a little bit of my magical finagling to get it processed quickly and I'll legally be your ward and adoptive daughter, at which point the goatfucker can't do shit about my living arrangements. If he tries anything in relation to your former...political affiliation we can always bring up that if my parents will was unsealed my true legal guardians could be revealed."

Severus raised a brow as he met her gaze evenly and she grinned maliciously, "It won't happen, the will openly states that Dumbledore was the one who bonded one traitorous rat known as Peter Pettigrew to the Fidelus charm as the secret keeper. That, well, that would be political and social suicide."

"Clever."

She grinned, "I do try."

Severus accepted the fountain pen from Haley and signed the documents, letting the ink dry he put the cap back on the pen and placed it on the table before turning back to Haley, "Well what shall we do now?"

Haley tapped a finger against her chin a few moments before glancing towards her small sitting room, "Up for a movie?"

"As long as it isn't Empire Strikes Back again, yes, I would not mind that."

"How about Back to the Future?"

"I have never seen it before."

Haley grabbed his hand and dragged him away while smiling happily, "You're in for a treat then dad, pop culture references, time paradoxes, and mad scientists abound."

It ended up being a rather low key evening considering the earth shattering revelations that would come to light in a few days, but in the end that was how any prank a Marauder worth their salt would have it, no one ever saw it coming.


	3. Rattling the Apple Cart

**Insomnia chapter, I know it is short and I went through a lot of effort to clean this story up yet... I think this works as a transition piece, this is where Haley grabs reality by the horns and shakes it into submission and gets more than she had bargained for. Enjoy!**

* * *

A young woman walked down the streets of London clad in a long black wool overcoat and a pinstripe skirt suit, high heels clicking on the sidewalk as she casually ignored the stares she was acquiring from most of the men and a few of the women surrounding her. Honestly at this time she was used to wandering eyes and they had at some point become part of the background noise that was her life.

Acknowledged, but not worth dwelling on.

Entering a phone booth she tapped out something on the number pad while avoiding chipping her nail polish and a moment later the handset she held to her ear spoke up.

"_Please state your identity and the purpose of your visit,"_ the small tinny voice stated, Haley just smirked as she quickly replied with a French accent.

"I am Alya Noir and I am here to rattle the apple cart for personal gain and amusement."

"_Very well."_

A moment later a badge dropped out of a slot, snatching it up Haley scoffed as she read "Visitor to the Ministry of Magic, Alya Noir: Politician," printed across its surface.

As the floor began descending she shrugged and stuck the pin to her jacket, "Well, you aren't exactly _wrong_ now are you?"

When she ended up in the atrium to the Ministry of Magic she quite confidently walked past the wand check in station, then acted confused when she was stopped by a ministry official.

"Oy oy oy lady you gotta register yer wand first!" He said while grabbing her arm, Haley then proceeded to pull a seven inch long dagger from her jacket and stuck its point beneath the man's chin.

_"Ne me touche plus jamais, cochon," _she seethed out in French. The man's eyes widened in terror but before he could reply a woman ran up to them looking panicked as she quickly began speaking.

"Ma'am it is customary to register one's wand before entering the ministry in Britain, he was only following policy so please let Ben go!"

There was a tense pause, then Haley lowered her dagger, "Oh...I apologize," she stated with a heavy accent as she turned away from the man she had very nearly stabbed and approached the wand check in station.

No one said anything to her, and she said nothing in return, they checked in her blackthorn wood, horned river serpent heart string wand and allowed her to go on her way without further question.

Haley was...in a weird place as she entered the lift; on the one hand the hilarious amount of complicity in this department only helped her cause, on the other hand the die hard professional bobby that was one Haley Potter-Granger was metaphorically on the ground sobbing in despair.

No wonder Riddle took this place over so easily, he had removed the only sane lynch pin in the entire ministry, one Amelia Bones, early on and just worked out from there. He didn't have to do anything he just let the entire mess ram itself into the ground and picked up the pieces afterwords, for the Morrigan's sake did anyone even try to hold the tiller steady while Haley, Mia, and Luna were on the run living out of a tent?

Haley did not think so...

As the lift came to a stop she exited it and approached the records room, stopping before the door she took in a deep breath, let it out, and then pushed the door open. What awaited her was a bit of a disappointment, stacks upon stacks of shelves housing dusty tomes, a desk up front, and a young redheaded man reading a Playboy magazine leaning back in his chair laconically behind it.

He _did_ earn points for not giving a shit that a woman caught him reading a naughty magazine though, props for ignoring propriety if nothing else.

"Yo," he stated in disinterest.

Haley snorted at that and dropped the French act for the time being, "Sup. I need the trial records for one Sirius Orion Black."

The man sighed, threw his magazine to the desk, then nodded, "Alrighty, gimme a sec."

A few minutes later the man returned, picked up his magazine, and proceeded to ignore Haley's existence for a time before she cleared her throat.

"Ahem. Sir are you forgetting something?" The man, 'Travis' if his name tag meant anything froze and then shook in surprise as he gaped at Haley in shock.

"Shit lady how long have you been there!?"

Haley stared at him for a few moments then let out a tired sigh, "Yeah..."

It took _six_ more attempts to get the man around whatever the fuck mind trap Dumbledore had set up but once it was shaken all hell broke loose.

Sirius Black had never been given a trial, Bellatrix LeStrange had never had her marriage contract examined during her trial, Narcissa Malfoy much the same thanks to her husband's bribery...or rather donations to the ministry.

What had been meant as a simple job to force the Ministry to actually give Sirius a trial was now ending up to be a clusterfuck of epic proportions, as more and more inconsistencies around the Death Eater trials poked up Haley could only stand there in the middle in shock.

At the end of the day, Haley apparated home, let her aging potion wear off, and changed her clothes before flooing to the Tonks home. Reorienting herself after flying out of the fireplace she met Andromeda's gaze evenly as her eyes began to tear up.

"I need a hug..."

Andromeda smiled and opened her arms, Haley was soon crying like a child as Andi embraced her, and not for the first time she wondered, what the hell do I do now?


End file.
